Van Gogh and religion

Just because Vincent van Gogh cut off part of his ear, some people think of him as ‘that crazy artist.’ Cliff Edwards, director of the division of religious studies and author of “Van Gogh and God: A Creative Spiritual Quest,” doesn’t agree. He said he considers the painter a brilliant man who painted pictures loaded with religious connotations.

Edwards has studied van Gogh for many years, and told students and faculty Friday as part of the religious studies society’s lecture series, that the artist began his life with dreams of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a pastor in Holland.

Unfortunately, his family’s poverty prevented van Gogh from continuing his schooling.

A painter is born

After a short unsuccessful term as a pastoral assistant in Richmond, England, the 27-year-old decided to use art as a mode of communication.

“Van Gogh’s second choice worked out pretty well,” Edwards said. “I don’t think he was a genius, he worked hard.”

The artist began painting in Holland and later moved to Paris to study color. Edwards said van Gogh wanted people to see him painting more than he wanted them to see his final works. To capture the act of painting, he made sure each brush stoke was visible and he used thick layers of paint, which made the pictures look almost 3-D.

Religious influences

In his novel, Edwards described the religious symbols in van Gogh’s piece, “The Potato Eaters.” The painting contains a cross and a religious painting in the background. He said van Gogh seems to invite the viewer to sit down at the table of the peasant family and feel their emotions.

In 1885, van Gogh’s father died. He painted “Still Life With Bible” soon after. The bible in the picture is open to Isaiah 53, which Edwards said is about suffering servants. Since the artist wasn’t selling any paintings, he probably thought of himself as a suffering servant. He also painted a French novel, “The Joy of Living,” in the picture, which Edwards said van Gogh’s father hated.

The works of van Gogh also have Japanese and Buddhist connections. Edwards said the artist admired how the Japanese brought nature to the foreground of their works. He started off recreating paintings done by Buddhists and then made his own. In one self-portrait, he dressed in a robe and shaved his head as a sign of gratitude to Asian and Buddhist artists, Edwards said.

In a letter to his brother, van Gogh wrote, “Come now, isn’t it almost a true religion which these Japanese teach us, who live in nature as though they themselves were flowers?”

He painted about 40 pictures of blossoming trees, which are common in Japanese works.

“Obviously he’s in ecstasy,” Edwards said.

Another technique the artist tried was painting with dots. Edwards said this allowed the viewer’s eyes to mix all of the colors together.

The decline of Vincent van Gogh

Van Gogh drank heavily, as did many artists during that era. He began to have seizures, which some doctors now attribute to epilepsy. It is during this time period that he cut off part of his ear.

Letters from van Gogh to his brother, however, still showed evidence of sanity.

“Even after his seizure his letters have beautiful clarity,” Edwards said. “His letters are beautiful…often very powerful.”

While staying in Arles, France, neighbors complained about van Gogh’s behavior and had him arrested and taken to a hospital for a brief stay. During this time, people raided his home and stole an unknown number of paintings.

He later voluntarily committed himself to an asylum, where he painted one of his most famous pieces, “Starry Night.”

In 1890, van Gogh moved to a village near his brother. He painted 70 pictures in 70 days, which Edwards said are now worth about $80 million each. He then shot himself in a field and died the next day at the age of 37.

Since he only sold one painting while he was alive, van Gogh’s works are concentrated in a few places around the world, such as Chicago and Harvard. The majority of his paintings are in the van Gogh museum in Holland. One exception, Edwards said, is a print actually done by van Gogh that resides in VCU’s President’s House he noticed about 20 years ago.